DEMOCRATIC AND POPULAR REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
UNIVERSITY OF ABDELHAMID IBN BADIS MOSTAGANEM FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The state of English as a global language and the difficulties faced
by teachers and students with its culture – case study: 3rd year
EFL teachers and students in Mostaganem’s University.
A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of Master’s Degree in Englishlanguage and Communication. .
Submitted by:
BEKIHAL Abdelmalik
Board of Examiners
Chairperson: Dr. SARNOU Dalal University of Abdelhamid Ibn Badis Supervisor: Mrs. KHAROUBI Mounira University of Abdelhamid Ibn Badis Examiner: Dr. HAIRECH Faiza University of Abdelhamid Ibn Badis
Dedication
I dedicate my work to my close friends who has been the support I needed through my whole life and been the real motivation to push me reach my goals and bring this work to life, so this research goes to you HABOUCHI Abed, BENDELAL Rafik, OUALI Nedjma Sabah, DJABOU abdellah chaima, GAID Mohamed Fouad, KHAMLI Faiza, BARKA Abdelhak, BENZERT Fatima, KASOUS Imene, GHM Riadh. I can never thank you enough and show how grateful I am to have you by my side.
I also dedicate my work to all who stayed at home yet kept pursuing knowledge during these hard times in order to make this world a better place.
At last but not least, my sincere gratitude goes to all teachers that pushed me forward and made me love this language and every year of my university life. May god repay you with all the happiness and heavens that your hearts would never see in dreams.
Acknowledgment
I would like to express my great gratitude to my supervisor Mrs KHAROUBI Mounira for her feedback, knowledge, support, patience, and her unforgettable smile through this whole research and the years that she has been my teacher. Thank you and god bless you.
Special thanks to my examiner Dr. HAIRECH Faiza for taking the time and putting the effort to correct and help make my work see the light, and make sure the knowledge of many researchers be transmitted to future generations. Thank you.
I am endlessly grateful to Dr. SARNOU Dalal for all the wisdom, care, joy, and knowledge that she gave me during her classes, and for how much patience she had to be just to make us better. Thank you for everything and may god protect your unforgettable soul.
I am also grateful for my classmates whom have made the experience of the master’s degree unforgettable. I feel lucky that I had the chance to meet you and be your friend, and share perfect moments and memories with you.
Table of Contents
Dedication ... I
Acknowledgment ... II
Table of Contents ... III
List of Graphs: ... IV
List of Tables: ... V
Abstract ... VI
Chapter one: Theoretical Background
General Introduction ... 1
1 Introduction ... 4
1.2 Briefing about the Relationship between Language and Culture ... 4
1.3 Features of Culture ... 4
A) Culture is Learned through The Socialization Process ... 5
B) Axiomatically ... 5
C) Culture is Everywhere ... 5
D) Constructed... 5
E) Social Connector ... 6
F) Constant Change ... 6
A) A Need Appearance ... 6
B) Nuclear/Standard English ... 7
C) The Aim... 7
D) Limitations ... 8
E) A Possible Change and a Possible Answer ... 8
1.5 Issues regarding English in the International Context ... 9
1.5.1 The Competence of the EFL Speaker ... 9
1.5.2 The Needs of the English Language Learner in ELF contexts ... 11
1.5.3 Imprinting Culture ... 13
1.5.4 Teaching Materials for Cultural Awareness ... 14
1.6 Culture-free Language Teaching ... 14
1.7 Culture and Teachers ... 18
1.7.1 The Impact of Culture on English language Teaching in EFL Contexts ... 18
1.8 Culture and Students ... 20
1.8.1 The Aim behind Studying English Language ... 20
1.9 Conclusion ... 20
Chapter Two: Methodology 2 Introduction: ... 21
2.2 Data Collection: ... 21
2.2.1 Research Method ... 21
2.2.3 The Context:... 23
2.3 Type of the Questionnaire:... 23
2.4 Description of the Questionnaires:... 24
2.4.1 Description of Students’ Questionnaire ... 25
2.4.2 Description of Teachers’ Questionnaire ... 28
2.5 Conclusion: ... 30
Chapter Three: Data Analysis and Results 3 Introduction ... 31
3.2 Data analysis ... 31
3.2.1 The Students’ Questionnaire ... 31
3.2.2 Teachers’ Questionnaire: ... 37
3.3 Discussion of the findings:... 45
3.3.1 Part one: Students findings ... 45
3.3.2 Part two: Teachers findings ... 47
3.4 Suggestions ... 49
3.5 Conclusion ... 50
References ... 55
Appendices ... 60
Appendix A: Students’ Questionnaire... 60
List of Graphs:
Graph 1 : Countries that represent the English language culture for students. ... 32
Graph 2 : English becoming the language of multiple cultures/ no culture at all to students’
opinions. ... 32 Graph 3 : studying literature and civilization is/not enough to deliver the English culture. .. 33
Graph 4 : Students received their pronunciation from teachers, and lectures/ movies, and
music, etc. ... 34 Graph 5 : Learners think that teachers’ usage of his favorite accent does/ do not/ sometimes
affects their understanding of the lesson. ... 35 Graph 6 : learners think that the basic structure of the English language does/ do not need
the cultural aspect to deliver ideas. ... 36 Graph 7 : Teachers think that culture is best delivered in written/spoken form. ... 38
Graph 8 : Participants disagree /agree that civilization and literature modules are enough to
deliver the English language culture. ... 39 Graph 9 : Educators think that English language culture is/is not needed in every interaction
using the language... 41 Graph 10 : Teachers’ opinion about if English is best taught in a culture-free context. ... 42
Graph 11 : teachers agree that students’ view of culture is taken from classroom/ outside
List of Tables:
Table 1 : Educators think that English is becoming a language of multiple cultures/ no
culture. ... 37 Table 2: Teachers think that students should/ should not learn about the English culture along
with the learning of the language ... 39 Table 3: Teachers think that students do/ do not care about culture-related sessions. ... 43
Table 4: Educators believe that students use the English culture/ imprint their own culture
Abstract
The global use of the English language has created a notion of culture-free English teaching and learning in order to fix all of the problems that came with the wide cultural context that is related to English nowadays. This motivated the study that sheds light on how the shift of focus to the cultural side in the curriculum of Third-year license teachers and students of Mostaganem’s university affects their overall performance in class, and how much importance they give to that English culture involvement in the classroom. The purpose of this research is to see if the emphasis on teaching the cultural aspect of the English language is still the correct methodology to use nowadays. In order to conduct this research, two questionnaires were made, one for students and the other for teachers; both questionnaires provided a frequent possibility to explain more in order to gain more insight into what teachers and students believe. The findings reveal that both the teachers and students believe that culture is important, but the basic structure of the language is enough to communicate in most cases, and students acquire their cultural knowledge outside the classroom. The result of this study suggests that the emphasis on teaching the cultural aspect of the English language is not the correct methodology to use nowadays.
Key words: English culture, English as a foreign language, Culture-free, Teaching
General Introduction
Language is the principal way to interact and conduct our social lives, and it is bound by culture in multiple and complex ways. And by taking that into consideration, teaching, and learning a target language is always accompanied by its culture, as Bryam (1989) appended: “the language holds the culture through the denotations and connotations of its semantics”.
English now is the language of communication and technology, and the difficulty to translate from every language to another. Made English the lingua franca used by people around the world. This spread made English Language Teaching (ELT) increasingly necessary.
But as the English language spread, it started including different contexts of use, and as the number of people using English grew, the changing needs that come with time became inevitable. In order to avoid the growing difficulties and misunderstanding caused by the cultural side of English that may occur frequently to teachers and students, several voices were raised to call for the teaching of English separately from its cultural context. Alptekin (200s5) Jenkins (2002; 2005) states that English should be taught in a ‘culture-free context’. Similarly, Kachru (1985) as well as Kachru and Nelson (1996) views that culture should not be taught together with English, especially in countries where English is mainly used for business and to participate in international conferences.
Therefore, it is important to investigate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the difficulties and the necessity of the cultural side of English from a single personal perspective.
The aim behind this study is to shed the light on the extent to which EFL teachers transmit or incorporate the cultural aspect of the English language during their classes and the effects
it has on students’ understanding of the language because of this cultural variety that is linked to English nowadays. The purpose is to also explore if teachers now teach only the structure of the English language without getting into the cultural part, or if they deliver only one small part of culture which can make students define the whole language culture depending on it.
A further, yet an important, justification for the urge to investigate is the fact that some modules that are important for the mastery of the language such as grammar and phonetics are removed, and the emphasis shifts to the teaching and learning of the literature and civilization modules by the third year of license.
To this end, we formulated the following questions to investigate how the connection between English and its culture can affect the learning and teaching process.
1- Is emphasizing the teaching of the cultural aspect of the English language to third year students is the correct methodology to use in the era of English language globalization?
2- Do teachers of English third year license teach English with all of the English cultural contexts that are related to it nowadays, or just their understanding of the English culture, or without any cultural connection?
3- How does the cultural aspect of English language involvement in the classroom affect the lesson understanding and the overall performance of the students?
4- Do students and teachers of English third year license see the English language as a language of multiple cultures or a language with no culture at all?
Regarding the hypotheses, the researcher assumed that the first hypothesis would be that the emphasis on teaching English language culture is not the correct methodology to take within the era of globalization. The second hypothesis is the teachers in Mostaganem’s
university teach English only as a normal language (a language with one country’s culture) and relate it to their own personal understanding of the English language culture. The third hypothesis is that the involvement of the cultural aspect of the English language affects students’ understanding of lessons and their overall performance negatively. And for the last one, the students and teachers of English third year license in Mostaganem differ in their opinions about the English language culture and have an individual understanding of the English language culture.
In order to go through this study, the researcher’s methodology included two questionnaires for investigation, one for students and another for teachers. The teachers’ questionnaire is different from the students’ one and the purpose behind that difference is to collect different views and perspectives about the case at hand. Also, it was due to the fact that teachers have a more professional view about the subject which made the questions that were given to the teachers more open, detailed, and less guided.
This research is divided into three chapters. The first chapter presents the literature review and the perspectives of scholars about the research aspects. The second chapter is the
methodological procedure used in this research with a description of the research instruments implemented. The third chapter is about the discussion of the findings where the results obtained from the research tools are presented. In addition, the researcher attempted to provide some suggestions and recommendations for a beneficial English language culture involvement in the classroom.
Chapter One
1 Introduction
Language and culture are inseparable components as it has been proven through many years of research. Yet the way people use English, and perceive its culture may become affected as it became a language for international communication and the mother tongue for many countries. In this chapter the researcher will attempt to provide the perspective of scholars about this change, and how do they think it is affecting the learning and teaching processes.
1.2 Briefing about the Relationship between Language and Culture
"A language is part of culture and culture is part of a language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture " (Brown,1994). Brown in this quotation tries to outline the relationship between language and culture. Wei (2005) demonstrated that language includes a dual personality: as a tool of communication and carrier of culture. In other words, culture and language are always connected and inseparable no matter which culture is connected to which language. Cultural values are both carried through language, and reflected by it. This implies that the way of thinking and expressing that was gained by the influence of native culture is going to be transferred unconsciously to the used language during intercultural communication.
1.3 Features of Culture
After given a brief overview of the language and culture, it is important for pointing out the variable features of culture which are many but these are the features selected for this research.
A) Culture is Learned through The Socialization Process
It means that a member of a society or a social group learns the culture of that environment through interacting with other members. Duarnti’s (1997) clarifies it by defining culture as “something learned, transmitted, passed down from one generation to the next, through human actions, often in the form of real life interaction, and, through linguistic communication”.
B) Axiomatically
Culture is shared between social group members, this sharing enables the members to act appropriately and not trigger misunderstandings or cultural shocks. Kramsch (1998) described culture as the ‘‘membership in a discourse community that shares a common social space and history, and common imaginings’’.
C) Culture is Everywhere
Pennycook (2007) in his definition stated that culture is “rather a process of language use that is integrated with other semiotic systems such as ritual, dance, graffiti, gestures, music, posture, clothing, ways of walking and talking”. This means that the vague nature of culture comes from different sources, and that makes it more challenging to afford one common definition for the concept of culture, because culture is a social construct, and it is constructed through interacting and communicating and being in a social group.
D) Constructed
People construct ideas, beliefs, and norms through interacting and engaging with people of their social group or others from different groups. This leads to constructing a mindset that enables them to operate appropriately enough when encountering people from other cultures. Fairclough (1989) noted that language is not an ‘autonomous construct’ but social practice. It
is both creating and created by the structures, conventions, and forces of social institutions within which we live and operate. (Cited in Thanasoulas, 2001)
E) Social Connector
Douglas (1994) noticed that culture act as “social glue”. The set of norms and values that people share make them united. The feeling of having shared values, dreams, and beliefs, are substantial to a group to ascribe themselves to one community rather than to another. Which means that keeping people together is another feature of culture.
F) Constant Change
The changing needs of the time require the culture to change in response to that. Meaning that the constant change is a main culture feature. And that to enable culture to face the changes of life inside a social group. The use of technology helps culture to be more adaptive and give it the chance to survive in a given society. Subtle changes occur constantly in a group’s ideology. What was dominant in the past may be considered outdated at present or in the future. Therefore, culture is a response to those predestined changes.
1.4 Standards of English as an International Language
Every language faces inevitable changes by the updating needs of time, English, especially, is the most affected language by the process since it became the language of science and international communication, and it is important to note the effects the globalization process contained.
A) A Need Appearance
A major raised concern appeared in the focus of English as an international language and it has been to try to solve the dilemma that seems to rise from the increased focus on ‘New Englishes’ on one side and on the other side the attempts to keep the function of English as a
language for international communication. It was debated that, when new varieties of English emerge and start being used by increasing numbers of speakers, there is a danger that English will fragment into many, mutually unintelligible languages (Erling 2000).
B) Nuclear/Standard English
As a consequence, more work went into describing the sort of ‘common denominator’ (a global type) of English that can be accepted and used by people all over the world, for the English function as a lingua franca.
There has been a suggestion that to deal with this dilemma, the method that should be used is to simplify English and to arrive at an internationally comprehensible minimum of the language. As an example, Quirk (1982) proposes a variety of English would be chosen which is stripped of many confusing features, but also has its communicative ‘nucleus’ intact (easy to use, understandable). Thus, the name: ‘Nuclear English’. Different scholars had different opinions and aimed to modernize the English language by fusing traits of the many regional varieties of English into a new global form. As examples for that, there is the ‘English as an International Auxiliary Language’ (Smith 1983), ‘General English’ (Ahulu, 1997), and ‘World Standard Spoken English’ (Crystal ,1997).
C) The Aim
The aim to reach from these suggestions for new standards of English is that, if the chosen standard form of English is considerably different from the native type of English that is spoken by many native speakers of the language and used for everyday communication, it would be equally learned by native and non-native speakers alike. Which contain a positive trait due to the fact that everyone in the world would have similar and equal access to it, and that the native speakers of English would no longer claim ‘ownership’ of the language. Also,
it could be seen as a positive effect that such a global language could be freed of any connection with specific social, cultural, or political contexts (Erling, 2000).
D) Limitations
No mutual agreement has been reached yet as to what the new type of English should look like, and there seem to be many obstacles on the way to such an agreement. The idea of deciding a “nuclear English” created a problem in deciding what this language core should consist of, and who the protectors of such a global language should be (Widdowson, 1994).
Also, other questions related to how a new Standard English should be confined, since all languages, naturally, change by the use of the speakers. Another problem raised concerning the notion of a culture-free language, as it is a well-known fact that neither Esperanto1 nor Volapük2 has been a great success. It has also been pointed out that the new standards of English that have been suggested to be selected for the global English are not new standards at all. According to Erling (2000), they are only new titles for the type of English that has been the prime lingua franca for decades, the variety that is widely known by the name of ‘Standard English’.
E) A Possible Change and a Possible Answer
This situation may be indicative of a possible solution to the questions related to English as an international language. English in today’s world is used in international communication and it can be argued that this is the main force in the future development of the language. The
1 Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. It was
created by Polish ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887.
2Volapükis an international language created in 1879 and 1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a
Roman Catholic priest in Baden, Germany. Volapük conventions took place in 1884, 1887 and 1889.
very fact that the language is used for international communication will act as a guarantee that English will remain intelligible for those who need it. Also for its role as an international language, English will change in order to meet changing needs (Widdowson, 2000).
1.5 Issues regarding English in the International Context
It is better to have a more in-depth view about what type of problems that can be faced by speakers/learners of English as a global language, to know more why scholars and
researchers need to find solutions regarding English usage contexts.
1.5.1 The Competence of the EFL Speaker
Traditionally the native speaker was the measure for the notion of competence in a foreign language. While in the instruction case of English language, the ultimate goal in most cases was to reach the competence of the British native speaker (Kachru & Nelson 1996). The reason behind this seems to lie in the belief that learners will benefit from mastering a variety of the language that will be well received in most contexts. Saville-Troike (1996) argues that most people will expect from learners to opt for a ‘formal’ style and to avoid any unusual language varieties that may cause drawing listeners’ attention. And for several reasons this tradition has been criticized.
First reason is that there are critical voices that have pointed to the fact that, if language learners accept the traditional links between English and Western culture they become a part of the imperialist tendencies themselves, which was the cause for criticizing the teaching of English language (Phillipson, 1992; Kachru & Nelson, 1996).
Second, there has been a focus on the intimidating effects possibility that comes with accepting native speaker competence as the exemplary. For foreigners, it has been argued, that the competence of native speaker is neither a desirable nor a reachable goal. Instead,
foreign language education has to help students become speakers of the language “in their own right” by making them aware of the power structures that are inherent in language use (Kramsch 1993).
The discussion of native speaker competence has because of the critics mentioned before been linked to questions of identity. The argument used is why people from other nations would want to sound British if the American speakers of English do not want to? (Kachru & Nelson 1996) Clearly, if learners were given the opportunity to orient themselves to which segments of these communities they want to prepare themselves for, from the different communities of language that are available to them, and to decide for themselves, this will contribute to increase their motivation by making language learning more relevant (Corbett 2003).
The last reason is that the very notion of the native speaker has been questioned: ‘Who the native speaker is?’ and ‘what his or her authority is?’ (Paikeday 1985; Widdowson 1994) The questions of native speaker authority have particular relevance in the case of English, not just because it has native speakers in all corners the world, but because that even in international communication, so many varieties of the language are being used. Widdowson (1994) makes the point that, as an international language, English should be independent of the custody of a particular group of native speakers.
English language use is, diverse because it serves the communicative needs of so many different communities. Consequently, for many learners of English, the notion of native-speaker competence should be seen as largely irrelevant (Kramsch 1998).
When this is said, it is can be obvious that not all discourses would be given the same importance. Bourdieu (1977) describes the way in which language is ‘authorized’ by those who have the power to do so, such as teachers in universities or organizers of conferences
when they limit the language that can be used by the students or participants and how speakers with little authority such as new learners of the language that has a very few control of their language need to struggle in order to reach a level of linguistic and social acceptability. Bourdieu (1977) refers to the linguistic competence in such cases as ‘linguistic capital’ that would be used in a certain ‘market’.
The chances of being listened to are unevenly distributed between native and non-native speakers. Bourdieu shows how this issue of authority and power determine the conditions to establish a communication and how a person’s linguistic and communicative competences only constitute a part of what he or she can bring to the communicative interaction. For learners of a foreign language, it would be important to be customized to the setting that they want to enter characteristics, and how much linguistic and social knowledge they need to acquire in order to be gain acceptance as worthy participants in that communication situation.
The term ‘non-native speaker’ can be used to highlight the fact that the speaker lacks native-speaker competence. Therefore, other terms have been suggested by several scholars, “the intercultural speaker” is one of the most common terms (Kramsch, 1998) along with the term of “the lingua franca speaker” (Pölzl, 2003). These terms point to the speakers with a different type of competence in a positive way in contexts of intercultural language use, which is more relevant and useful than the native speaker competence.
1.5.2 The Needs of the English Language Learner in ELF contexts
Classrooms that teaches The English language in international contexts is supposed to prepare an intercultural or global (or global centric) citizen, enhancing common understanding of world cultures. Many English language learners around the world do not actually visit English-speaking countries but they learn the language to use it with other speakers whom also are non-native English language speakers in the context of World
Englishes (WEs) (different varieties of English spoken by non-native people), while they use their own variety of English that do not have to follow the native-speaker model.
The needs of many EFL learners require that the teacher also responds to the students in the culture of his or her learners since they are unaware of the target language culture. In most cases that have been witnessed in international meetings, EFL learners use English in WEs contexts. For example, EFL learners who work in companies may have to interact with Chinese exporters, the English language culture cannot be the culture of the Chinese exporters in such cases, and the English language spoken in such context will not be related to the English language culture.
If it is agreed that the EFL learning and teaching focus on the outcomes and should emphasize on the classical normal way of English language delivery, and the EFL learners objective in our example to learn is not tightly related to the British or American culture, but to only communicate using English and a ‘common’ culture for politeness and respect.
Another example for more explanation is a learner who plans to work as a guide for tourists in his or her own country. The need for English for this leaner is mainly used to explain his or her local country’s culture and knowing American or British cultures may not be of great use to him or to her at all if the tourists he is going to guide are not Americans or British people.
While they were examining the culture in the world of English as an international language (EIL), which is mostly used as the synonym of EFL, Shin, Eslami, and Chen argue that “there are instances in which teaching the target culture is appropriate; in others, local culture or international culture approach might be more advantageous. A balanced combination of localized, native-speaking, and internationalized form of culture represent yet another alternative”. This result that they reached is based on the direct needs of the learner.
Which shows greatly in the example of learners who learn English to study abroad or immigrate to English speaking countries, while not being EFL learners, the target language culture is of higher importance for them more than for those who study and are going to use English for international communications. Because the first ones are not EFL learners and they are not ready for international encounters.
It is very important that EFL teachers and international employers understand that the objective of the EFL learner is not only to communicate with native English speakers. Since English is now called an international and global language; the English language teachers are also concerned with global contexts and must look at culture from a wider perspective to include its international aspects; a task that is becaming easier with the Internet and technology widespread.
1.5.3 Imprinting Culture
For some students, the want to speak like a native speaker is not of much importance for them, nor the need to know about the target culture and understanding it. Instead, they just use their own culture to speak through the target language which reflects greatly on their way of speaking and gestures while using the language as an example to illustrate that, away from the British and American accents, new accents emerged as dialects of English such as Indian accent, Egyptian accent, even the Algerian accent. “Language has a dual character: Both as a means of communication and carrier of culture” (Wei, 2005). This means that the community’s values, beliefs, history, and even dreams are reflected through language and expressed by it. Hence, “it is inevitable that the way of thinking and expressing influenced by the native culture will be unconsciously transferred to the target language during the intercultural communication” (Sun, 2013).
1.5.4 Teaching Materials for Cultural Awareness
To teach culture in foreign language classes a variety of materials can be utilized. Durant considers nine sources of materials to be of great efficiency. The sources differentiate depending on the members the person interact with of the target culture, a testimony recorded from members from the target culture, a visit to the target culture country, the target country’s own media, ethnographic data acquired from fieldwork, political along with history data, statistics and surveys specified the target community, objective opposition, and contrast to the target country fashions and styles (Durant 1997). Literature, which is considered as a very effective culture material source, is not listed with the materials although Durant’s list is considered as very comprehensive. Materials used in language teaching have a common problem which lies in the fact that they convey cultural biases. It means that they express attitudes towards the learner’s own culture and the target implicitly. Materials must treat culture themes from at least two contrastive perspectives in order to encourage intercultural point of view, commonly known as two-dimensions. One-dimensional point of view, unfortunately, is still more widespread as it is very difficult to avoid using culture-bound ideas for textbooks writers.
1.6 Culture-free Language Teaching
After highlighting the changing needs and the problems faced by people when using English within international contexts, it is important to highlight one of the main theories that emerged to fix those problems this theory came to investigate more about the possibility of cultural free teaching.
Even though the necessity to include questions of context and culture in the process of teaching a foreign language may seem clear, several voices have been raised to argue against teaching culture as part of foreign language education. Different reasons and arguments have
been given. One of the arguments is concerned with the difficulty of the task. Another argument stresses the danger of oversimplification and reducing other cultures to static categories that are easy to teach. Yet another argument relates specifically to the teaching of English and related to cultural domination and cultural imperialism issues.
There is no argument against the fact that trying to come to terms with cultural differences and, especially, trying to prepare students for communication across an unlimited number of these differences, is a difficult task.
Situations of misunderstandings are common even for someone with a considerable level of cultural insight, and cultural openness, awareness, and willingness to show cultural sensitivity may even create new levels of problems (Scollon & Scollon, 2001).
Therefore, it is obvious that some people may encounter ‘cross-cultural paralysis’ and want to avoid the possibility of dealing with these problems entirely (Guest, 2002). On the other hand, it can be argued that the inability to meet cultural challenges and feelings of frustration in communication situations should rather be seen as a reason to learn more about issues when facing different cultures not less (Scollon & Scollon, 2001).
The argument associated with the danger of oversimplification is one that has to be kept in mind when the picture ‘the other’ is presented. According to Guest (2002), the tendency to describe other cultures in terms of their essential characteristics in foreign language education was influenced by cultural anthropology. Contrastive analysis between different cultures often results in a ‘taxonomy of differences’, but such analysis conveys stereotypes and oversimplified pictures. Guest argues that such an approach is used by nationalists, racists, and other extremists, in order to create a clear opposition between ‘us’ and ‘them’. In providing monolithic, standardized pictures of other cultures, foreign language education runs
the risk of perpetuating prejudiced views rather than counteracting them. This, however, is not an argument to disregard cultural and intercultural questions in EFL classes.
On the contrary, in order to prepare students for successful communication, it seems quite important to draw their attention to how much people tend to make a simplified picture of “the other”. It is a curious fact that, while we tend to interpret a foreigner’s behavior as being representative of that culture, in terms of people’s personality we most often interpret their behavior from our own cultural perspective and not their cultural background (Guest, 2002). Thus, since communication takes place between people, and not between cultures, it seems to be important for learners of a foreign language to be aware that whatever may be valid for the culture as a whole may not be all valid for the individual members of it.
Rather than focusing on some alleged characteristics of other cultures, it could be argued that students need to be prepared to meet and interpret individuals’ characteristics according to their behavior and their language individually, not collectively. (Guest, 2002; Scollon & Scollon, 2001).
The challenges related to cultural domination and cultural imperialism have received considerable attention while teaching English as a foreign language. English is traditionally associated primarily with the United States (a contemporary superpower) and the United Kingdom (a former colonial power), and it comes as no surprise that, in many world parts, the content of cultural and the cultural values that seem to come with the instruction of English language are not received well (McKay, 2002). It also has been asserted that there is a logic breach when English taught for international communication purposes refers to specific nations and when it is placed within the cultural contexts of them (Nelson, 1995; Alptekin, 2002).
To solve this dilemma some scholars tried investigating ways to teach English separately from a particular context of culture. But it has also been argued that it can hardly be the language itself to be blamed when it comes to imposing Western cultural values and traditions on learners of English. Instead, the problem is probably caused by forces from outside the language (McKay,2002). Erling (2000) proposed that the authors and publishers of textbooks are the first to hold responsibility since international English textbooks for teaching today look similar to the textbooks of previous generations that set out to teach ‘the Queen’s English’ (the British variety of English).
It seems that attempts to arrive at a completely culture-free language teaching would only bring back language learning to when it was seen as a question of learning the forms of the language, and not a question of using language in real-world contexts. If one wants to focus on using language, for communication and social actions then, language should be connected to cultural contexts. The question then is which contexts and which cultures the teaching of English should be tied to? (Pulverness, 2000).
So, another method of solving the undesirable influence of cultural problem is to free the teaching of English from the traditional contexts and the cultural references of the language. Even the term ‘culture-free’ was used by some scholars seem to refer to English language instruction that is not related to the cultural background of the countries traditionally associated with the language and the way people communicate using it in a particular community (Pölzl, 2003).
English is always realized in local contexts even though it is a global language, (Kramsch, 1996). As a result, many voices have been raised in favor of the need to show learners the diversity of the cultural contexts in which the English language can function e.g. (Pulverness, 1999; Erling, 2000; Scollon & Scollon, 2001; Alptekin, 2002; McKay, 2002). This is where
the possibility to link English to multiple cultures and contexts and to give the chance for all users of the language to relate their own cultural experience to English. Also, some materials for instruction have been designed around content that refers to the local environments of the learners.
However, it can be argued that it is important for learners to learn about the historical past of English and explore some of the connections between the language and its native speakers’ cultures. This way, learners can be helped to see how specific ways of world understanding can be promoted by language and can promote certain ‘manners of knowledge and behavior’ (Widdowson, 2000). Rather than imagining that one can engage in a seemingly ‘culture-free’ language education, this way it is possible to develop the kind of critical language awareness that critical discourse analysts propose.
1.7 Culture and Teachers
Teachers are the last connecting part of the educational system that links to students and they are the ones who usually opt-in with what happens in class to fix any case of misunderstandings or problem of students receiving false ideas, yet culture, also, interferes with the way teachers deliver lessons and interact with students.
1.7.1 The Impact of Culture on English language Teaching in EFL Contexts
According to the (U.S National Education Project, 1999), the standards of foreign language learning and teaching. The foreign language course’s true content is not limited to just vocabulary and the language grammar, but the expressed cultures through that language.
Also, Culture taught in foreign language teaching should reflect different aspects of the language society. Many researchers such as Grittner (1996), Tavares and Cavalcanti (1996),
and Allen (2004) state that the teaching of culture is most effective when students discover the foreign language culture rather than having gust information.
Gao (2006) states that foreign language teachers should try to help enhance the cultural awareness of the learners and attempt to improve their communicative competence. According to Tomalin (2008), teaching culture of the language involves understanding how to accept differences using language, to be flexible and tolerant of the way of doing things which might be different to each learner. Tomlin 2008 further argues that teaching of culture in EFL should include culture knowledge, cultural values (the psychology of the country, what people see as important), cultural behavior (knowledge of daily life behaviors) and cultural skills (The development of intercultural sensitivity and awareness)
But while teaching English which is now the language of the world, teaching culture would not be the same as teaching any other language, because there are many countries that have English as their mother tongue which means that the English language is the representative of their culture as well and these countries should not be overlooked, while the focus of teaching is just on the United States’ culture because it is the most powerful country or the United Kingdom because of its place as the former colonial power.
As an effect to that, while teaching English as a foreign language, the challenges related to cultural domination and cultural imperialism have received considerable attention. because English is traditionally associated primarily with the United States (a contemporary superpower) and the United Kingdom (a former colonial power), and it comes as no surprise that, in many parts of the world, the content of culture and the cultural values that usually come with the teaching of English language are not received well (McKay 2002).
1.8 Culture and Students
Students are the ones more concerned with the changes and restrictions that may occur within cultural contexts because they have to deal with these difficulties and get accustomed to what can happen to language used when culture becomes a boundary.
1.8.1 The Aim behind Studying the English Language
In the Algerian education system, English is learned as a foreign language, students start learning English at the level of first-year middle school and each one would use it differently depending on his personal goals, but the aim of the usage of this language is the same in most cases, which is to speak and understand the global language and be understood in international encounters. Richards and Schimidt (2002) state that foreign languages are typically taught as a school subject for the purpose of communicating with foreigners or for reading printed materials in that language.
1.9 Conclusion
This chapter was concerned with the theoretical background of the dissertation which contains the literature recourses and the views of scholars about the aspects of the study, the next chapter will be the methodology used to investigate more about if students and teachers of third-year English license at Mostaganem university face issues with the cultural connection to the English language, and what are their perspectives about the globalization and cultural status of English in EFL contexts.
Chapter Two:
Methodology
2
Introduction:
This chapter presents the research methodology, the tools, and procedures used to investigate the research problem and answer the research question which is about whether the emphasis of teaching the English language culture under the shadow of globalization is the correct methodology. And the main purpose behind tools used which are questionnaires is to seek the status of English language culture for students and teachers nowadays. Also to know their different opinions about how the emphasis on the cultural side of the language is affecting the learning and teaching process of the third-year license classes in mostaganem’s university.
2.2 Data Collection:
The ultimate goal of any researcher is to conduct a study that produces data that can enhance and develop a specific field of knowledge. The choice of rationalized research tools on a clear objective basis plays a fundamental role in generating rigorous, fundamental results. Following this assumption, the researcher decided to collect data from both teachers and students in order to get a better understanding of the study from the whole classroom components perspective.
2.2.1 Research Method
For the purpose of collecting data for this research two questionnaires were conducted, one for teachers and another for students. The teachers’ questionnaire is different from the students’ one and the purpose behind that difference is to collect different views and perspectives about the case in hand. Also due to the fact that teachers have a more professional view about the subject, which made the questions that were given to the teachers more open, detailed, and less guided.
Regarding the questions, some of them gave the opportunity for the participants to express their thoughts more clearly and freely. But there were some direct questions that required a 'yes' or 'no’. However, in most questions, the informants were asked to give not a long answer but long enough to explain their own experience with the culture learning and how it affects their studies during the globalization of this language.
The questionnaire was written only in English and distributed to third-year license English language students and teachers to ensure the credibility of the answers. The data used in this chapter was mainly obtained from the participants’ answers on the questionnaires.
Regarding the approaches used to collect data, the researcher chose a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative approaches in order to collect enough data that can validate or invalidate the hypothesis stated before.
The qualitative approach in data collection is based on the naturalist paradigm which claims that reality and truth are multiple. In other words, there is not only one single truth or reality since people have diverse ways of thinking and every single person can capture the same truth from a completely different perspective as Munhall (1989) argues: “Truth is an interpretation of some phenomenon; the more shared that interpretation, the more factual it seems.”
And the quantitative approach in the data collection is used to summarize the answers into categories to easily manage them and interpret them properly. Also, it was used independently in some questions that do not require further elaboration.
2.2.2 The Sample:
In the attempt to deal with the research issue, the students and teachers of third-year License teachers and students of the English language in Mostaganem’s university were chosen as the sample for the questionnaires.
2.2.3 The Context:
One may wonder about the choice of the sample in this study. The reason behind the choice of the third-year License students and teachers of the English language is because they are the ones that face a major modules change and focus shift in their studies. The focus shift towards the study of the cultural aspects of the English language, starting from making Civilization and Literature modules fundamental, to lowering the focus on the Written and the Oral Expression, finally completely removing the Grammar and phonetics modules. Without taking into consideration that there are students from scientific branches, and sometimes these students are focusing on English for the first time, also there are other students from literary branches who do not have a strong linguistic base of the English language. That can give them a hard time learning the cultural aspects while struggling with the language acquisition and it makes the teaching process hard while dealing with such a sample in such circumstances.
2.3 Type of the Questionnaire:
These questionnaires are adapted from (Missaoui Benyounes 2017) and (Laidi Fatima 2017) whom both made a research about the status of the English language for students and how important it is nowadays through questionnaires that we used as a reference for the questions used in our research, and the inspiration for the questions was from a doctorate thesis made by (Prof. Ragnhild Lund) under the name of (Questions of Culture and Context
in English Language Textbooks) that brought to my attention this topic and the research questions to discover how valuable culture is for third-year license students.
Regarding the quality and credibility of the responses, the researcher collected as many participants’ answers as possible until the day of making this chapter, and all of the participants were strictly chosen from third-year teachers and students that studied and taught at Mostaganem’s University
2.4 Description of the Questionnaires:
The questionnaire is the most used data collection instrument by many researchers for collecting data; it can help to get accurate data, the data that could be not observed.
Two questionnaires are used to collect data for this research, one made for students and another for teachers. First, the students’ questionnaire which is made of 18 questions was addressed to (30) students of third-year license of the English language. It aimed to gain their opinion about the importance of the English language, and how focusing on culture while lowering the importance of the linguistic base is affecting their studies. Also to see their opinions about the need for culture and when are they are using this cultural knowledge nowadays in the era of English globalization.
Second, the teachers’ questionnaire which consists of 14 questions and it was made to investigate the status of English language culture for third-year license English language teachers, it was given to 17 teachers to know their opinions about the case of the emphasis on teaching culture in the era of globalization and if they think that it is the correct methodology to take into the program, and how do they think it is impacting their teaching process, and the students learning.
The questionnaire did not include any personal data about the participants such as age, gender, name, etc. because the culture is not related to gender or any of the personal traits of the people but about their view of their realities, their needs of communication, and the effect on their goals which is exactly what was focused on using the questions.
2.4.1 Description of Students’ Questionnaire
It consists of 18 question, 6 of them are multiple-choice questions with giving the possibility for students to elaborate to their choices further in some of the questions. While the others are yes/no questions, yet not all of the questions are limited to yes and no in order to make students feel less restricted, also to know more about their perspectives and what do they think.
The first two questions numbered 1 and 2 are a yes and no questions concerned with the general culture of the students.
Question (1) is made to investigate how much importance the student gives to the general culture.
Question (2) checks if students are fully aware or not aware at all with their own culture while giving the option of “still learning culture because it is still updating”, to see if they agree to that fact.
The next four questions 3, 4, 5, and 6 are concerned with the status of the English language culture for students.
Question 3 aims to know whether students of English as a foreign language still think that the English language should be connected to its culture.
Question 4 is about the importance of English language culture in students’ real-life interactions.
Question 5, this question is to know which country culture represents English language culture for students while giving students the possibility to choose as many countries as they want.
Question 6 is used to know the students perspective about whether English is losing its own culture or it is gaining more and representing more countries
The next set of questions numbered from 7 to 14 is concerned with the English culture learned from teachers and its use, how it affects the classrooms and to what extent is it helpful.
Question 7 objectives are to know whether students receive enough cultural knowledge through the civilization and literature modules and to know why students think it is enough/not enough.
Question 8: This question is utilized to investigate if students find a use of the learned culture in class and what are the cases of use if existed
Question 9, the use of this question is to see which pronunciation students prefer and want it to be the default English pronunciation and why.
Question 10 aims to know from where do students receive their pronunciation since in many cases it defines the way they think English is used in its original contexts, in other words, it reflects their cultural knowledge.
Question 11, This question was given to see if teachers’ dialect can affect his performance and the overall understanding of the lesson because sometimes teachers prefer a certain accent or have an unusual pronunciation.
Question 12 investigates the acceptance of students the culture they are receiving from their teachers and lessons, and if they believe it will improve their language usage
Question 13 is made to know whether students’ interactions with their English teachers can differ from interacting with teachers of English from other countries and cultural backgrounds.
Question 14 is concerned with the need for cultural knowledge when talking with classmates who came from different countries or different cultures using the English language
The following set of questions from 15 to 18 are composed around the need to connect the English language to its culture outside the academic setting and if students still think it is necessary to keep that connection.
Question 15, this question is made to see if students think that the English language without its culture can suffice if they want to live in another English speaking country without knowing that country’s culture.
Question 16 investigates whether students think that the basic structure of the language is sufficient enough for interaction in most cases or it needs the cultural aspect in order to be understood
Question 17, this question is specified for superficial interactions with strangers using English language and if students believe that they need the cultural knowledge for that sort of interaction why they need it/do not need it
Question 18 the aim behind this question is to gain the students perspective about whether the world is under one basic culture with just small differences that can be learned while the
person is there or every culture is different and need to be learned entirely before going to the desired country
2.4.2 Description of Teachers’ Questionnaire
This questionnaire is made of 13 questions, 10 of them are multiple-choice questions with the reoccurring option of writing and expressing their ideas more, the other 3 questions are yes/no questions with the extra possibility of explanation for more elaboration to their choices.
The first question is concerned with English culture status for teachers while the second and third-questions are made to investigate whether teachers believe the way culture is taught in the classroom is correct
Question 1, the reason behind this question is to see if teachers and students agree about if English becoming a language of multiple cultures or without a culture at all.
Question 2 aims to know if teachers believe that delivering English culture in a written form is sufficient enough or it is better to learn culture through speaking and interacting with people of that culture
Question 3 is made to see if teachers believe that civilization and literature modules deliver enough culture about the English language or not.
The next set of question from 4 to 6 are related to when culture should be learned and if it is highly important for students
Question 4 investigates whether teachers agree that students can learn English culture only when they need it or it is better if they learn it along with the process of learning the English language and why do they think that.
Question 5 Aims to know if teachers believe that the English culture is needed in every interaction using the language or not and why do they believe that.
Question 6, the reason behind this question is to know if teachers think that the cultural side of English is actually important and beneficial for students or not.
The questions 7 and 8 are concerned with the context of the English language taught by teachers in the classroom
Question 7, this question is made to know to what extent teachers agree or disagree on the possibility of teaching English in a culture-free context and why do they agree/disagree.
Question 8, this question investigates whether teachers give importance to making students aware of all varieties of English dialects, the two official ones or only one dialect, and why if they chose one to recommend.
The following questions from 9 to 11 are related to how much care do students give to the culture taught in the classroom and which culture do students use while speaking English.
Question 9, the aim behind this question is to know if teachers think that students care about culture-related session and what do they think is the reason behind their care/carelessness
Question 10 is made to know if teachers believe that students’ view of English culture is taken from the classroom sessions or from the outside world and social media
Question 11 Investigates through teachers’ answers, which culture is being used by students while they are speaking the English language.
The last questions (12) and (13) are concerned with teachers’ perspectives about English culture use in real-life contexts.
Question 12, the reason behind this question is to know if teachers believe that it is going to be hard or not for students to interact with people using the English language if they do not know its culture
Question 13 Aims to know whether teachers think that knowing about a language culture is concerned more with politeness or with all types of language usage.
2.5 Conclusion:
As a summary of this chapter, we can say that the researcher used one data collection tool to collect the needed data for this research which was questionnaires for both teachers and students in order to gather their views about the subject. The questionnaires were different from each other because teachers have a more professional view on the subject of the questions. The questions for teachers were more open-ended then the questions made for students, for the open ended questions, the researcher chose only the answers that are unique and have a valid argument for each point of view. Also, the names for the participants were replaced by “teacher” or “student” to protect their identity. The coming chapter will tackle and discuss the findings and results obtained from the questionnaires. This chapter will also include some suggestions about the teaching methodology used for the third-year license of the English language.
Chapter Three:
3 Introduction
The previous chapter tackled the methodological part of the research and included a full description of the data collection tool, the research participants, the context, and the data analysis of this research. In this Chapter, to discuss the results and findings then suggest some appropriate techniques and activities that might be related to students. In addition, some pedagogical implications and recommendations are included for teachers.
3.2 Data analysis
The next paragraphs will present the data acquired from the two questionnaires i.e. the teachers’ questionnaire and the students’ questionnaire.
3.2.1 The Students’ Questionnaire
This is the first step because students are the center of this study and they are the ones who can affect the flow of the lessons if provided the right motivation. The students’ questionnaire was given to 30 participants of 3rd year English language at Mostaganem’s university.
The graphs below are a numerical representation of the responses obtained from the questions 5 and 6 (see appendix A) concerning question 5 participants were asked to choose a country that represents the English culture for them, while in question 6 students were asked if they think that English is becoming the language of multiple cultures or without culture at all.
Graph 1: Countries that represent the English language culture for students.
Graph 2: English becoming the language of multiple cultures/ no culture at all to
students’ opinions.
These questions were included to see which country represents the English language for students and if they think that English now belongs to more countries or still restricted to the United Kingdom or The USA or both. The answers collected from these questions shown that even though the majority of students 83% agreed that English is becoming a language of multiple cultures but 43% of the participants still connect the English language to the England (UK) country alone, other 13.33% connect it to the USA alone, and another 23.33% said both England and USA represents the English culture, which is a total of 79.66% of the
43.34%
13.33%
23.33%
16.67%
3.33% England alone USA alone England & USA England, USA, and
many other countries None Students population 83% 17% Multiple cultures No culture at all
participants’ population, this creates issues while learning the English language as a foreign international language because the majority of learners are still stuck with the traditional issue of associating English culture either to its former colonial power (United kingdom) or the contemporary superpower (USA) as mentioned in the first chapter, while learners need to know more about language usage in international contexts. This issue happens due to the fact that the cultural connection between English and the UK or the USA is what they are exposed to in the literature and civilization modules.
The graph below displays an analysis of answers to the question of whether students believe that studying literature and civilization modules are enough to deliver the English culture and why. (See appendix A, question 7)
Graph 3: studying literature and civilization is/not enough to deliver the English
culture.
The result for this question was expected, 77% of students do not think that it is enough to study culture through the two modules since they are time-bound and will not be able to provide enough information about all the aspects of a lingua franca. Some answers were chosen as to why students think that these two modules are not enough to deliver the cultural side of English.
23%
77%
Yes No
the students that said no it is not enough concluded how open the aspect of culture can be for learners, which is not only consisted of history, and that it cannot be included in two modules. Also, another problem that students think is relevant is the non-native speaker’s ability to deliver the culture; a participant mentioned that teachers are not always capable enough of delivering the English culture. This can affect the learners’ motivation to listen or follow with that teacher if they think he is not at his qualified enough to deliver his module.
But for those that said the modules i.e. literature, and civilization are enough to deliver the culture used the argument of studying the literary arts and history is enough revealing about how these people used to live and are enough as a base knowledge, but further research can be done by the student if he wanted to learn more. But this argument can lead also lead to students believing that the country still lives in the same life form and this can mean that students will fall into stereotypes, and end up having the wrong idea about that society.
Next, the graph below represents the answers obtained from students on question 10 (See appendix A), participants were asked from where did they receive their pronunciation.
Graph 4: Students received their pronunciation from teachers, and lectures/ movies,
and music, etc.
76.66%
23.34% Music, movies, etc. Teachers, and Lectures.
The pronunciation of language mostly is inspired by being exposed to speakers or from interaction using that specific language, which means pronunciation can define a big chunk of the cultural knowledge of the language since the speaker will be reflecting that knowledge in the way of speaking. The majority (76.66%) of students reported that they did not receive their pronunciation from the classroom instead they receive it from the movies and music, this reflects the effect of technology in delivering culture since students nowadays spend most of their time browsing the internet while listening to music or watch movies online or on the Television. This means that even if the classroom would provide a part of the culture but it would not be as much as the amount students can receive through technology because of the time factor.
The next graph is a numerical representation of the learners’ responses concerning question 11 (See appendix A) which requires students’ perspective about whether the teacher usage of his/her favorite accent makes it difficult for students to understand the lesson.
Graph 5: Learners think that teachers’ usage of his favorite accent does/ do not/
sometimes affects their understanding of the lesson.
This question was given to see if teachers’ dialect can affect his performance and the overall understanding of the lesson because sometimes teachers prefer a certain accent or
14% 13% 73% Yes No Sometimes
